And the Keyboard Goes Click, Click, Click

Authors

  • William Ventres University of El Salvador

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26443/ijwpc.v4i2.128

Keywords:

Electronic Health Records, Physician-Patient Relations, Physician's Role, Professionalism, Technology

Abstract

In this essay I discuss the use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) from three different points of view. These perspectives come from my experiences as a patient, family physician, and medical anthropologist. I briefly explore how health care practitioners repeatedly have been told that EHRs hold great promise to facilitate communication with patients. I note how EHRs have, at present, far from reached that promise: in general, health care practitioners have yet to integrate EHRs in ways that promote a shared therapeutic presence—the healing human connection that can emerge in clinical encounters—between them and their patients. I conclude by examining my own limitations in using the EHR and the mindful lesson I have learned in the process.

Author Biography

William Ventres, University of El Salvador

Research Associate Institute for Studies in History, Anthropology and Archeology University of El Salvador

References

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Bates DW, Ebell M, Gotlieb E, et al. A proposal for electronic medical records in U.S. primary care. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2003;10(1):1–10.

Wyatt JC, Sullivan F. eHealth and the future: promise or peril? BMJ. 2005;331(7529):1391-3.

Ventres W, Kooienga S, Marlin R, et al. Clinician style and examination room computers: a video ethnography. Fam Med. 2005;37(4):276-81.

Ventres W. Kooeniga S, Marlin R, et al. Physicians, patients, and the electronic health record: an ethnographic analysis. Ann Fam Med. 2006;4(2):124-31.

Ventres W, Frankel R. Electronic health records and patient-centered care: it’s still about the relationship. Fam Med. 2010;42(5):364-6.

Ventres W, Kooeniga S, Marlin R. EHRs in the exam room: tips on patient-centered care. Fam Pract Manag. 2006;13(3):45-7.

Shachak A, Reis S. The impact of electronic medical records on patient-doctor communication during consultation: a narrative literature review. J Eval Clin Pract. 2009;15(4):641-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2008.01

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Published

2017-06-21

How to Cite

Ventres, W. (2017). And the Keyboard Goes Click, Click, Click. The International Journal of Whole Person Care, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.26443/ijwpc.v4i2.128

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2017): The Impact of Technology on Whole Person Care

Section

Commentary

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